This invention relates generally to firearm safety lock devices, and more particularly, to gun locks for immobilizing the hammer and/or actuating lever of a gun.
Thousand of handguns and rifles are purchased every year by citizens for use in sporting events, such as hunting and target shooting, or for use in home protection. Typically, guns are stored at one""s home or apartment in drawers, closets or even under the bed. While a minority of gun owners have gun safes to store their guns, most guns owners store their guns in unlocked areas of the home accessible to others dwelling there. As such, guns provide a danger to children or adolescents whose curiosity may lead them to find and play with a gun. Additionally, a child finding a firearm may take it to show friends or take it to school. While adults may believe that guns are safely put away, children and adolescents always seem to find them, and as a result, fatalities and injuries resulting from the accidental discharge of firearms, particularly by children, has become problematic. Also the intentional use of guns by children against classmates and teachers in schools has been increasing over the last several years. Suicides by use of firearms are also at an alarming rate. In response to the rise of this danger, the U.S. Congress and many state legislative bodies throughout the country have enacted or are in the process of enacting legislation requiring that each new purchase of a gun be accompanied by the purchase of a suitable lock. Additionally, states are creating strict requirements that gun locks must pass to resist tampering and attacks that could disable or remove a gun lock. This is in part a response to the large number of commercially available locks that are of poor quality and unreliable.
Conventional gun locking devices typically have two sides which clamp around the trigger guard of the gun to prevent access to the trigger, such as the devices shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,191,158 xe2x80x9cTrigger Guard for a Firearmxe2x80x9d, U.S. Pat. No. 4,499,681 xe2x80x9cSecurity Device for Firearmsxe2x80x9d, U.S. Pat. No. 4,509,281 xe2x80x9cGun Trigger Lockxe2x80x9d, U.S. Pat. No. 3,956,842 xe2x80x9cGun Trigger Lockxe2x80x9d, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,624,945 xe2x80x9cUniversal Self-Conforming Trigger Lock for Firearmsxe2x80x9d. Other conventional gun locking devices are designed to immobilize the trigger as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,153,360 xe2x80x9cGun Lockxe2x80x9d. Some gun lock devices have been developed without key locking arrangements to allow quick access to the gun by adults but rendered safe against children who may gain access to the gun, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,030,221 xe2x80x9cGun Lock Using Manual Pressurexe2x80x9d and U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,119 xe2x80x9cGun Trigger Blocking Structurexe2x80x9d assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
These gun locks, while attempting to prevent access to the gun trigger, leave the gun hammer exposed and unsecured. Accordingly, the gun hammer in many cases can still be manipulated and gun may still be fired. A reliable gun locking arrangement that deters tampering with a gun hammer would be an advancement in the gun locking art. It would further be an advantage in the art to provide a gun locking device that includes a mechanism to prevent manipulation of the cocking lever on lever action rifles. Effective gun locks will save lives of the individuals who may tamper with a gun or the life of a person from accidental or intentional use. The present invention provides such improved firearm security arrangements.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide gun lock arrangements that prevent access to a gun when the gun is not in use.
Another object of the invention is to provide a gun hammer lock arrangement that deters tampering with the hammer of a gun.
A further object of the invention is to provide a gun lock arrangement for securing the actuating lever of a lever action gun/rifle.
Still another object is to provide gun security arrangements that are resistant to tampering by children and adolescents, protecting them from injury to themselves or others.
The invention provides a gun locking apparatus for preventing unauthorized use of a firearm comprising a side bracket adapted to be mounted on one side of a gun, the side bracket having a plug extending into an open area between the hammer and firing pin formed when the hammer is urged into an open position. The plug blocks the hammer from striking the firing pin. Alternatively, instead of the plug, the bracket may include a upper section that extends over the top of the gun and captures and immobilizes the hammer. The bracket may be affixed to the gun by a locking mechanism, such as a padlock or other conventional locking devices.
In order to further enhance the gun locking apparatus, the side bracket may include a bottom portion that seats under the bottom of a gun trigger guard or gun lever action. The side bracket may also be hardened, or hardened inserts may be added to the bracket, to provide additional security.
The construction and operation of preferred embodiments of such above-described gun lock arrangements of the present invention may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like components are designated by the same reference numbers.